Rookie guards JJ Quinerly and Aziaha James each scored 15 points and the Dallas Wings overcame the absence of a key player to defeat the visiting Washington Mystics 79-71 on Saturday night at Arlington, Texas.
Arike Ogunbowale had 14 points and Myisha Hines-Allen provided 13 points and a team-high five assists as Dallas avenged an overtime road loss from June 22. The Wings got off to a tremendous start with a 28-9 lead after the first quarter.
Dallas (5-13) was playing without rookie guard Paige Bueckers because of what was announced as a knee injury one night after she poured in 27 points in a loss to the Indiana Fever. The Wings took control early and held off a few Washington rallies.
Sonia Citron’s 22 points led the Mystics (8-9), whose season-high three-game winning streak ended. Shakira Austin poured in 18 points and Sug Sutton had 12 points. Washington had team scoring leader Brittney Sykes back after a two-game absence with a leg injury, but she managed only six points.
Even 22-for-25 shooting on free throws wasn’t enough for the Mystics, who checked in at 34.4 percent from the field.
Dallas went 4-for-11 from 3-point range but made up for the limited perimeter production by controlling the boards with a 41-26 rebound edge. James went 3-for-4 from beyond the arc.
Washington was within 64-56 to begin the fourth quarter, but James’ 3-pointer was the next basket. The Mystics didn’t score in the final quarter until nearly four minutes elapsed.
The Mystics got the margin back to single digits on Sykes’ drive for a basket with 3:48 remaining. Neither team scored for about another 90 seconds before Sykes converted again to cut the gap to 75-68.
A Hines-Allen basket with 42 seconds left were the final points.
The Wings led 45-31 at halftime behind 56.7-percent shooting from the field. Dallas held a 22-9 rebounding advantage by halftime.
–Field Level Media
